Chapter 048

If she doesn't move out quickly, she will definitely get into more trouble in the future.

So far, the ten of them have not gone hungry, because they are not living as well as she is, so they are unhappy with her attitude and have opinions about her, and occasionally they will deliberately do things to make her uncomfortable.

For example, when she is resting, she gets up in the morning and makes quite a lot of noise.

If they didn't even have food to eat, wouldn't they be even more hostile and dissatisfied with her?

As the contrast becomes more striking, their unhappiness will surely increase exponentially, and it will become more likely that they will target her and cause trouble for her.

Move out and away from them.

Not seeing each other can avoid a lot of trouble.

Originally, Chuxia had planned to wait until she had saved enough money before building a house.

But she didn't expect that Han Ting and his friends would run out of food at this moment, and she couldn't wait until they had saved enough money.

However, Chuxia remembered that she seemed to have overlooked something.

So she thought for a while, looked at Lin Xiaohan and asked, "Will you move out with me too?"

It seemed that she and Lin Xiaohan had never discussed this matter seriously.

It had been mentioned before, but Lin Xiaohan expressed it vaguely, and Chu Xia didn't know whether he had really decided to move out with her.

Hearing this, Lin Xiaohan looked at Chu Xia and asked, "What else? What am I busy with you?"

Chu Xia thought that he must also want to stay away from trouble, so she smiled at him and said, "Then let's go find Secretary Liu when we have time today and tell him about this matter."

Lin Xiaohan: “Okay.”

***

After the market on Sunday, the festive atmosphere spreads to every corner of the village.

The same is true in school. After class, the children chat about what they bought at the market on Sunday and what fun things they saw. Many of them also mentioned the delicious bowl of noodles with soybean sauce, saying it was so delicious that they almost swallowed their tongues.

Besides talking about what happened at the market yesterday, they were also looking forward to the end of school.

Because the production team was going to slaughter pigs and distribute pork to each family in the next two days, they all wanted to go and watch the slaughter.

So at noon when school was over, these children lined up to leave the school, and after the team disbanded, they ran faster than each other.

Killing a pig is a big event in the village. Not only children will go to watch, but adults will go too.

Chuxia and Lin Xiaohan did not join in the fun. After sending off this group of extremely excited children after school at noon, they went back to the educated youth site to have lunch as usual.

After lunch, do not stay at the educated youth center for too long and return to school as usual.

But today Chuxia and Lin Xiaohan did not rest in the office. Instead, they took the money and food coupons they earned at the market yesterday, took their account books, and went to find Qin Xue, the brigade accountant.

I found Qin Xue, went to his office and sat down to settle yesterday's accounts.

Both sides calculated all the accounts including expenditure and income, and checked them several times to make sure there were no mistakes or omissions. Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan took the money they received and walked out of the office with a smile.

Back at the school office, while there was still some time before class, the two of them pulled up chairs and sat together to settle their own accounts.

From the time they set up their stall at the market until now, the two of them have earned a total of 140 yuan, mainly because of yesterday's big market, when they sold more noodles and made more money.

They hadn't spent much money in the past few months, not even using their subsidies, so their combined spending was fifty.

This month's subsidy has not been paid out yet. If it is paid out in two days, it will be ten yuan more.

After the calculation, Chu Xia looked at Lin Xiaohan and said, "Based on the experience of other villagers in the village in building houses, this money is enough to build two rooms, but if we want to add a kitchen, it will not be enough."

Lin Xiaohan said, "The biggest expenses are tiles, beams, doors and windows, and then there are the costs of building the house and hiring carpenters. It's not enough to build three proper houses, so just buy beams and doors and windows for two rooms, and just make a simple sloping roof for the other kitchen. How about that?"

Chu Xia thought for a moment and said, "Sure. If the money is still not enough, we can ask Captain Liang to give us an advance on our work points. We definitely can't use up all the work points in a year, so an advance is no problem. He will definitely give us an advance."

Lin Xiaohan nodded, "Okay, let's do it this way."

***

The two of them settled the bill and discussed the matter, and it was time for the afternoon class.

After finishing the afternoon classes and locking the door and leaving the school in the evening, Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan did not go directly back to the educated youth site, but went to the brigade headquarters to find Secretary Liu and told him about their plan to build a house next to the school.

Secretary Liu sat behind his desk and listened to what Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan said.

After thinking for a while, he asked, "What you mean is that you want to move out of the educated youth site, build two dormitories next to the school, and live directly next to the school, right?"

Chu Xia nodded and said, "Living close to the school, everything is convenient. The educated youth site is a bit far from the school. Secretary, don't the schools in the town and the county have teacher dormitories? If the children have any problems, it will be convenient for us to come to the school."

As she thought of something, she added, "We know that building a house is not a trivial matter, so we don't want to cause trouble for the brigade. You grant us the land, and we will build the house with our own money."

Secretary Liu was originally speaking while leaning back in his chair.

After hearing this, he sat up straight and said, "I was wondering why you guys suddenly wanted to set up a noodle stall and sell noodles at the market. It turns out you wanted to earn money to build a house, so you're waiting for me here."

Lin Xiaohan continued, "Secretary, we are doing this to complete our work better and spend more time with the school and our children. Everything is for our children."

Secretary Liu looked at the two of them and said, "You two have said so much. Everything has been planned out and you are just waiting for me to approve the land for you. Can I still say no now?"

If he disagrees, he can't come up with any suitable reason.

We need to consider asking the brigade to contribute money and manpower, and to consider the matter that has put him in a difficult position.

Now this matter is not difficult at all, and it is a great thing for the students. What else can he say?

Hearing this, Chu Xia immediately smiled and said, "Thank you, Secretary Liu."

Secretary Liu added: "It is a blessing for our children to have such responsible and good teachers like you two. I have to thank you on behalf of the children."

After this matter was agreed upon, Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan did not bother Secretary Liu any further.

Before they said goodbye to Secretary Liu and left, Secretary Liu smiled and said to them, "By the way, the day after tomorrow we will celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival. Don't forget to take some time to go to the pig farm of the brigade to get some pork tomorrow."

Chu Xia smiled and said to him: "You can be passive in everything, but you can't be passive in eating meat."

Secretary Liu laughed out loud and added, "If you are not enthusiastic about eating meat, there must be something wrong with your brain."

Coming out of the brigade headquarters, Chuxia still had a smile on her face.

Lin Xiaohan also looked relaxed and happy. He walked a few steps and said, "If you want to move out earlier, then find someone to start making adobe bricks tomorrow. This Sunday, I won't have time to open the noodle stall. I have to go to the lumber mill to buy wood and find a carpenter to build doors, windows, and beams."

Chu Xia looked at Lin Xiaohan and nodded, "Okay."

Next, the two discussed how to build the house.

They were going to build dormitories, so the houses would naturally not be like the ones other families lived in. Instead, they were going to build independent rooms for each person, side by side, with a small kitchen next to them.

There are no bricks to build houses in the countryside, and people use homemade adobe bricks.

The brigade has a mud yard. If anyone wants to build a house, they can just take wheat straw and rice straw to the mud yard to make adobe bricks. All of this is free.

Those who have money can hire people to do work, and either treat them to a good meal or pay them wages.

Those who don’t have money can do it themselves. If there are not enough people, they can slowly save up the bricks and build the house when they have enough.

Making adobe bricks is a job that requires skills, so Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan naturally don't know how to do it.

Based on the house-building experience of other members' families, they roughly calculated how many adobe bricks they would need, and planned to ask the team's house-building workers to do the work, starting with making the adobe bricks.

There is an experienced and skilled master in the team, and most of the houses in the village were built under his leadership.

Of course, in these days, craftsmen like them do not take jobs individually.

Thinking that there would be no time at work tomorrow, and that any delay would mean another day, Chu Xia discussed with Lin Xiaohan, and after returning to the educated youth site and having dinner, she went straight to find the old master.

The old master took the job and brought nine people to the yard early the next morning.

Shoveling soil, watering, mixing mud, molding, demoulding...

The adobe bricks are formed one by one...

***

On the dirt field by the river.

The neatly stacked adobe bricks were illuminated red by the setting sun.

After Chuxia and Lin Xiaohan finished inspecting the adobe bricks, they paid the master craftsman the ten yuan they had prepared as wages.

The old master led the workers to make adobe bricks for two days. If they were to be treated to dinner, they would have to treat them to two meals. With so many people, the cost of meals was not a small amount. Moreover, it would take a lot of time to cook enough meals for ten people, so Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan directly gave them two days' wages.

The old master was covered in mud, but his hands were washed clean.

He took the money and counted it in his hand. Chu Xia said to him politely, "Master, we both have to work every day and don't have time to cook so many meals. It just so happens that it is the Mid-Autumn Festival and everyone has to go home for reunion. We won't treat you to a meal. Please don't mind."

While Chuxia was talking, Lin Xiaohan took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket.

He first gave one to each of the other nine people, and after the old master finished counting the money, he also gave one to the old master.

Country people live a hard life and seldom smoke.

People who like to smoke usually smoke tobacco that they grow and cut themselves.

It is natural to be happy if you can smoke cigarettes while working.

They could also hear that it was just polite talk, and they couldn't afford to let people spend money on cooking after receiving their wages.

The old master smiled as he collected the wages, held out his hand to take the cigarette and said, "Don't mind, don't mind, teachers, don't worry, we will bring these adobes back to you in a few days after they have been turned over and dried to make them solid. The foundation will be dug two days in advance, and we will build the house for you in one go."

They had a lot of manpower, so building two rooms and a small kitchen could be completed in three or four days.

Lin Xiaohan continued: "Then I'll trouble you all."

Chu Xia also said: "Thank you, Master. Thank you for troubling everyone."

Today is Mid-Autumn Festival, and everyone will go home to celebrate the reunion festival after finishing their work.

The old master collected the wages, exchanged a few words with a smile, and then took the others home.

Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan didn't stay on the dirt field for long.

They also rushed back to the educated youth sites to prepare delicious food in a festive atmosphere.

Han Ting and his friends came back earlier and had already cooked several dishes and placed them on the table.

However, the dishes they cooked looked unappetizing. Many of them looked overcooked, with black leaves or rotten beyond recognition.

Fortunately, there is meat, which is quite rich compared to what we usually eat.

Chuxia and Lin Xiaohan didn't join them in the fun and just cooked their own meals in silence.

Lin Xiaohan was lighting a fire behind the stove, and Chuxia was cooking on the stove.

It's a rare opportunity to eat meat to my heart's content, so I made a big bowl of braised pork in early summer.

After the braised pork was done, I made fried meat with lentils, stir-fried half a chicken and roasted a fish. Finally, I made egg, vegetable and white flour pancakes as the staple food.

Originally, Han Ting and his friends were quite happy when they were cooking, because they cooked a lot of dishes and used a lot of oil.

But when they saw the dishes cooked by Chuxia coming out of the pot and placed on the table, the smiles on their faces gradually became different, and gradually they all looked forced.

After working in the kitchen for a whole night, Han Ting and his team cooked two tables full of dishes.

Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan were the only two people having dinner, so they cooked only four dishes. After making the vegetable pancakes, they also cooked a tomato and egg soup, making a total of six dishes.

The final tomato and egg soup was placed on the table.

The dishes on the table look good and smell delicious, making people drool just by looking at them.

Han Ting and the others sat around their own table. Even though there were more plates and dishes on their table, they couldn't help but glance at Chu Xia's table again and again.

Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan did not eat in the kitchen.

They moved the table to the yard and the two of them went to eat there.

The reunion and liveliness of ten people were separated in the kitchen.

Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan were sitting in the yard, which seemed a little deserted in comparison.

Chu Xia didn't envy the liveliness of the ten people including Han Ting.

It was just that in such a festive atmosphere, when she glanced at the big round moon above her head while eating and thought of the word "reunion", she naturally felt homesick.

She knew that Lin Xiaohan didn't have a good relationship with his family, so she didn't ask him if he missed home. Instead, she asked in a roundabout way: "Is this also your first time to spend Mid-Autumn Festival outside?"

Lin Xiaohan raised his eyes and looked at Chu Xia for two seconds. He didn't answer and asked instead: "Are you homesick?"

Hearing Lin Xiaohan ask this, Chu Xia felt a pang in her heart and her eyes felt a little sore.

She lowered her brows to adjust her mood, then looked at Lin Xiaohan and said with a smile: "Every festive season makes me miss my family even more."

This time, Lin Xiaohan didn't say anything disappointing like Chu Xia was risking her life for love.

He continued what Chu Xia had said and asked, "When you were at home, how did you celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival?"

These are the things that Chuxia was thinking about, so naturally she had something to say.

She continued to eat and said to Lin Xiaohan: "We will have a reunion dinner together as a family. After dinner, we will eat moon cakes and admire the moon. My dad will buy me a rabbit doll and make a rabbit lantern for me. I will light the rabbit lantern and play with it at night..."

It was rare that Lin Xiaohan was willing to listen, so Chuxia unconsciously talked more about family matters.

We had a great time talking and were almost done with dinner.

The two of them cleaned up the dishes together and went back to their dormitories.

The table was left in the yard and not moved back, so Chuxia took out the mooncakes, intending to continue eating mooncakes and looking at the moon in the yard, completing the festival rituals.

But she sat at the table with the mooncake and waited for a long time, but Lin Xiaohan did not come out of the dormitory.

On a day like this, it was quite sad to sit alone in the yard and eat mooncakes, especially when Han Ting and the other ten people were making so much noise in the kitchen that they almost blew the roof off.

Chu Xia hesitated for a while, then stood up and walked to the door of the boys' dormitory and asked, "Aren't you going to eat mooncakes?"

Lin Xiaohan replied in the dormitory: "Wait a moment."

Hearing him say this, Chu Xia breathed a sigh of relief and returned to the table to continue waiting.

There was a kerosene lamp burning on the table, and the flame was dancing in the lampshade.

Chuxia stared at the jumping flames and waited for a while.

Lin Xiaohan came out of the dormitory.

He sat down at the table and placed a few things on it.

Chuxia lowered her eyes and took a closer look, and saw only white paper, a pen, matches and a piece of candle about half an inch long.

I don't know what he's doing with these things.

Chu Xia looked at him suspiciously and asked, "What are you doing with these? Aren't you going to eat mooncakes?"

Lin Xiaohan rolled up his sleeves and said, "Eat later."

As he spoke, he picked up the pen, removed the cap and began to draw lines on the white paper.

Chuxia looked at him puzzledly, then lowered her eyes to watch him paint.

I saw him draw a line in the middle of the white paper with a pen, leaving two spaces in the middle of the line, and then connected two rabbit ears. He drew two very simple circle eyes under the ears, and then the rabbit's iconic three-petal mouth.

These things can be drawn with just a few strokes.

After he finished drawing, he picked up the white paper and tore out the rabbit ears on it with his hands along the lines he had drawn.

Put the torn paper down and press it with a pen.

He picked up the match again, struck it, and lit the small candle.

Hold the candle and burn it for a while, drip a few drops of wax on the table, and stick the candle to the table.

Chu Xia looked at him and blinked.

He picked up the paper he had just torn and pinched the two ends to make a circle.

After the white paper was circled, it became a fat cylinder with two rabbit ears standing up on it.

Lin Xiaohan let the bunny ears and the side with the bunny face painted on it face Chuxia.

Then he pinched the paper circle with his fingers, slowly put it over the candle, and used the paper circle as a cover to surround the candle.

The candle flame flickered, and the light penetrated the white paper.

Chu Xia looked at the lit up rabbit face, her eyes suddenly widened and she said, "Rabbit lamp!"